GURPS Martial Arts - Home

Example 1: An attacker with two attacks can only attack
adjacent targets (in adjoining hexes, on a map). If he tried to
attack two opponents with a gap between them, he’d lose an
attack . . . and be back to just one attack.
Example 2: Someone who has three attacks and two
adjacent opponents could make two attacks on one foe and
one on the other, in any order. If his enemies were one full
yard apart, he could only attack each of them once – skipping
a yard would use up an attack. If he had a third adversary
adjacent to the first two, he could opt to attack each of
them once, moving from left to right or right to left.
Skipping the one in the middle would be like fighting two
people a yard apart, and cost him one attack.
When executing a technique specifically designed to
engage multiple opponents, its special rules always supersede
this general rule. For examples, see Grand Disarm
(p. 84) and Whirlwind Attack (p. 88).
Grappling and Multiple Attacks
Any grappling move that counts as an attack is permitted
as part of a multiple attack sequence during a maneuver.
You must usually attempt different actions (takedown and
pin, kick and break free, break free and grapple, etc.). You
can’t make repeated attempts at a takedown, pin, or lock; try
to injure an opponent repeatedly through strangling or an
Arm Lock, Neck Snap, etc.; or take multiple shots at breaking
free. However, you can try the same move against different
body parts or opponents, grapple and attempt an
instant follow-up, or – if making an attack that must follow
a parry, such as Arm Lock – insert attacks between the parry
and the follow-up. For instance, if you parried using Judo
and then made two attacks, you could feint and then use
Arm Lock.
CHAMBARA FIGHTING
Japanese chambara movies and Hong Kong wuxia films
use wires and camera angles to create the illusion of warriors
catapulting through the air, battling while balanced on
bamboo canes or telephone wires, leaping from rooftop to
treetop, and generally ignoring gravity. Traditionally, fighters
in these tales aren’t comic-book superheroes, capable of
flight and telekinesis. They’re just so skilled at the martial
arts that they can perform the most fantastic feats from
martial-arts legend.
The rules below make it possible to simulate this kind of
action. They make no effort to be realistic! Only use them in
highly cinematic campaigns – and only for combatants who
have either Trained by a Master or Weapon Master. Even in
the most over-the-top movies, only true masters can perform
these stunts.
Chambara Movement
Mighty leaps and acrobatic flips almost define the genre.
In a chambara campaign, a fighter with Trained by a Master
or Weapon Master and both Acrobatics and Jumping at DX
level or better may leap his full jumping distance in combat,
contrary to Jumping During Combat (p. B352). Work out
high- and broad-jump distance – for standing and running
jumps – and record it on the character sheet to avoid having
128 COMBAT
to figure it out in play. This greatly benefits Flying Attacks
(p. 107) and evading by jumping (see Evading, p. 105).
The GM should allow Acrobatic Stand (p. 98) and
Acrobatic Movement (pp. 105-107), and halve all penalties
for these stunts (rounding in the negative direction). For
instance, the penalty for Acrobatic Stand becomes -3. In the
case of multiple, cumulative penalties, find the final penalty
and halve the total.
Other Multiple Actions
The Multiple Attacks rules apply only to the All-
Out Attack, Attack, Committed Attack, Defensive
Attack, and Move and Attack maneuvers. A fighter
can “trade” attacks for feints, but he can’t sacrifice
attacks to perform tasks covered by other maneuvers.
He cannot make multiple posture changes with
Change Posture (but see Acrobatic Stand, p. 98),
hastily Ready an unready weapon (but he can draw
several weapons; see Multiple Fast-Draw, p. 103),
count his turn as more than one second of
Concentrate, or Aim or Evaluate on a turn when he
attacks. Exception: Individuals with Altered Time
Rate can do all of these things by taking suitable
maneuvers on their turn!
Chambara Attacks
A trademark of chambara fighting is attacking on the
move, striking foes on all sides. In a chambara campaign,
the GM should use the expanded rules for Rapid Strike
(p. 127) to let martial artists attack as often as their skill
allows.
A chambara fighter with more than one melee attack
thanks to Extra Attack or All-Out Attack (Double) can
“trade” some of these for extra steps on a one-for-one basis.
He can insert steps anywhere in his attack sequence – even
in the middle of a Combination, Dual-Weapon Attack, or
Rapid Strike (none of which can be traded for steps).
Example: Serena has Extra Attack 1, giving her two basic
attacks. Taking an Attack maneuver, she converts one into a
Rapid Strike for three attacks at -6 apiece (-12, halved for
Trained by a Master). She trades the other for a step. With
the basic step allowed on an Attack, she gets two steps. She
elects to attack, step, attack, step, and attack again!
Naturally, chambara fighters can use both Flying Attack
(p. 107) and Acrobatic Attack (p. 107). When making an
Acrobatic Attack, add the -2 to Acrobatics to any penalty for
a specific stunt and then halve it as usual. Also halve the -2
to attack, making it -1, just like a Flying Attack. The GM
should invent suitable techniques to capitalize on this.
There are three main varieties:
• Acrobatic attacks that let the hero buy off the -4 to hit
for a Move and Attack and -1 for an Acrobatic Attack, and
ignore the skill limit of 9 when doing so. These have a basic
default of -6.